1.
Bucharest
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Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than 60 km north of the Danube River, Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. It became the capital of Romania in 1862 and is the centre of Romanian media, culture and its architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the citys elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of Little Paris. Although buildings and districts in the city centre were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic, in 2016, the historical city centre was listed as endangered by the World Monuments Watch. According to the 2011 census,1,883,425 inhabitants live within the city limits, the urban area extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of about 1.9 million people. Adding the satellite towns around the area, the proposed metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.27 million people. According to Eurostat, Bucharest has an urban zone of 2,183,091 residents. According to unofficial data, the population is more than 3 million, Bucharest is the sixth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Paris. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and is one of the industrial centres. The city has big convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional shopping arcades, the Romanian name București has an uncertain origin. Tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur, who was a prince, an outlaw, a fisherman, in Romanian, the word stem bucurie means joy, and it is believed to be of Dacian origin. Other etymologies are given by scholars, including the one of an Ottoman traveler, Evliya Çelebi. A native or resident of Bucharest is called a Bucharester, Bucharests history alternated periods of development and decline from the early settlements in antiquity until its consolidation as the national capital of Romania late in the 19th century. First mentioned as the Citadel of București in 1459, it became the residence of the famous Wallachian prince Vlad III the Impaler, the Ottomans appointed Greek administrators to run the town from the 18th century. A short-lived revolt initiated by Tudor Vladimirescu in 1821 led to the end of the rule of Constantinople Greeks in Bucharest, the Old Princely Court was erected by Mircea Ciobanul in the mid-16th century. Under subsequent rulers, Bucharest was established as the residence of the royal court

2.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage

3.
Dobruja
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Dobruja is a historical region shared today by Bulgaria and Romania. It is situated between the lower Danube River and the Black Sea, and includes the Danube Delta, Romanian coast, the territory of Dobruja is made up of Northern Dobruja, which is part of Romania, and Southern Dobruja, which belongs to Bulgaria. The territory of the Romanian region Dobrogea is now organised as the counties of Constanța and Tulcea, with an area of 15,500 km2. Its main cities are Constanța, Tulcea, Medgidia and Mangalia, Dobrogea is represented by dolphins in the coat of arms of Romania. The Bulgarian region of Dobrudzha is divided between the regions of Dobrich, Silistra, the villages, Konevo, Rainino, Terter and Madrevo. This part has an area of 7,565 km2, with a combined population of some 350,000 people. With the exception of the Danube Delta, a region located in its northeastern corner, Dobruja is hilly. The highest point is in the Țuțuiatu Peak in the Măcin Mountains, the Dobrogea Plateau covers most of the Romanian part of Dobruja, while in the Bulgarian part the Ludogorie Plateau is found. Lake Siutghiol is one of the most important lakes in Northern Dobruja, the Black Sea also exerts an influence over the regions climate, particularly within 40–60 kilometres from the coast. The average annual temperatures range from 11 °C inland and along the Danube to 11.8 °C on the coast, the coastal region of Southern Dobruja is the most arid part of Bulgaria, with an annual precipitation of 450 millimetres. Dobruja is a region once known for its windmills. About 85–90% of all experience some kind of wind, which usually comes from the north or northeast. The average wind speed is twice higher than the average in Bulgaria. Due to the precipitation and the proximity to the sea, rivers in Dobruja are usually short. However, the region has a number of shallow lakes with brackish water. The most widespread opinion among scholars is that the origin of the term Dobruja is to be found in the Turkish rendition of the name of a 14th‑century Bulgarian ruler and it was common for the Turks to name countries after one of their early rulers. Other etymologies have been considered, but never gained widespread acceptance, abdolonyme Ubicini believed the name meant good lands, derived from Slavic dobro, an opinion that was adopted by several 19th‑century scholars. I. A. Nazarettean combines the Slavic word with the Tatar budjak, a version matching contemporaneous descriptions was suggested by Kanitz, which connected the name with the Bulgarian dobrice

4.
Moldavia
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Moldavia is a historical region, and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river. The western half of Moldavia is now part of Romania, the eastern side belongs to the Republic of Moldova, the original and short-lived reference to the region was Bogdania, after Bogdan I, the founding figure of the principality. Dragoș was accompanied by his female hound called Molda, when reached the shores of an unfamiliar river. The dogs name would have given to the river and extended to the country. The old German Molde, meaning open-pit mine the Gothic Mulda meaning dust, dirt, a Slavic etymology, marking the end of one Slavic genitive form, denoting ownership, chiefly of feminine nouns. In several early references, Moldavia is rendered under the composite form Moldo-Wallachia, Ottoman Turkish references to Moldavia included Boğdan Iflak and Boğdan. See also names in other languages, the name of the region in other languages include French, Moldavie, German, Moldau, Hungarian, Moldva, Russian, Молдавия, Moldaviya, Turkish, Boğdan Prensliği, Greek, Μολδαβία. The inhabitants of Moldova were Christians, archaeological works revealed the remains of a Christian necropolis at Mihălășeni, Botoșani county, from the 5th century. The place of worship, and the tombs had Christian characteristics, the place of worship had a rectangular form with sides of 8 and 7 meters. Similar necropolis and place of worship were found at Nicolina, in Iași The Bolohoveni, the chronicle shows that this land is bordered on the principalities of Halych, Volhynia and Kiev. Archaeological research also identified the location of 13th-century fortified settlements in this region, Alexandru V. Boldur identified Voscodavie, Voscodavti, Voloscovti, Volcovti, Volosovca and their other towns and villages between the middle course of the rivers Nistru/Dniester and Nipru/Dnieper. The Bolohoveni disappeared from chronicles after their defeat in 1257 by Daniil Romanovichs troops, in the early 13th century, the Brodniks, a possible Slavic–Vlach vassal state of Halych, were present, alongside the Vlachs, in much of the regions territory. On the border between Halych and the Brodniks, in the 11th century, a Viking by the name of Rodfos was killed in the area by Vlachs who supposedly betrayed him. In 1164, the future Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, was prisoner by Vlach shepherds around the same region. In 1342 and 1345, the Hungarians were victorious in a battle against Tatar-Mongols, the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz mentioned Moldavians as having joined a military expedition in 1342, under King Władysław I, against the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1353, Dragoș, mentioned as a Vlach Knyaz in Maramureș, was sent by Louis I to establish a line of defense against the Golden Horde forces of Mongols on the Siret River and this expedition resulted in a polity vassal to Hungary, centered around Baia. His realm extended north to the Cheremosh River, while the part of Moldavia was still occupied by the Tatar Mongols. After first residing in Baia, Bogdan moved Moldavias seat to Siret, disfavored by the brief union of Angevin Poland and Hungary, Bogdans successor Lațcu accepted conversion to Roman Catholicism around 1370, but his gesture was to remain without consequences

5.
Bukovina
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Bukovina is a historical region in Central Europe, divided between Romania and Ukraine, located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains. Historically part of Moldavia, the territory of what became known as Bukovina was, from 1774 to 1918, a division of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire. After World War I, Romania established control over Bukovina, in 1940, the northern half of Bukovina was annexed by the Soviet Union, and nowadays is part of Ukraine. Another German name for the region, das Buchenland, is used in poetry. In Romanian, in literary or poetic contexts, the name Țara Fagilor is sometimes used, nowadays, in Ukraine the name is unofficial, but is common when referring to the Chernivtsi Oblast as over two thirds of the oblast is the northern part of Bukovina. The territory of Bukovina had been part of Moldavia since the 14th century and it was first delineated as a separate district in 1775, and was made a nominal duchy within the Austrian Empire in 1849. The Moldavian state had appeared by the century, eventually expanding its territory all the way to the Black Sea. Bukovina and neighboring regions were the nucleus of the Moldavian Principality, the name of Moldavia is derived from a river flowing in Bukovina. In the 15th century, Pokuttya, the region immediately to the north, Pokuttya was inhabited by Ruthenians and Hutsuls, the latter also reside in western Bukovina. In 1497 a battle took place at the Cosmin Forest, at which Stephen III of Moldavia, managed to defeat the much-stronger, the battle is known in Polish popular culture as the battle when the knights have perished. Stephen also settled the first Ruthenians in Bukovina with the hope of having a loyal, in Suceava, in the 16th century, two percent of the population was Ruthenian. In 1513, Moldavia started to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire. In May,1600 Mihai Viteazul, united the two Romanian principalities and Transylvania under his leadership, for short periods of time, the Polish Kingdom occupied parts of northern Moldavia. Bukovina was the reward the Habsburgs received for aiding the Russians in that war, the Austrian Empire occupied Bukovina in October 1774. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the Austrians claimed that they needed it for a road between Galicia and Transylvania, Bukovina was formally annexed in January 1775. On 2 July 1776, at Palamutka, Austrians and Ottomans signed a convention, Austria giving back 59 of the previously occupied villages. Bukovina was a military district, then the largest district. On 4 March 1849, Bukovina became a separate Austrian Kronland crown land under a Landespräsident and was declared the Herzogtum Bukowina, in 1860 it was again amalgamated with Galicia, but reinstated as a separate province once again 26 February 1861, a status that would last until 1918

6.
Transylvania
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Transylvania is a historical region located in what is today the central part of Romania. Bound on the east and south by its borders, the Carpathian mountain range. The term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the regions of Crișana, Maramureș. The region of Transylvania is known for the beauty of its Carpathian landscape. It also contains major cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Sibiu, in the English-speaking world it has been commonly associated with vampires, due to the influence of Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and its many film adaptations. Transylvania was first referred to in a Medieval Latin document in 1075 as ultra silvam, Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means on the other side of the woods. Hungarian historians claim that the Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania, later Transylvania, was a translation from the Hungarian form Erdő-elve. That also was used as an name in German überwald. The German name Siebenbürgen means seven fortresses, after the seven Transylvanian Saxons cities in the region and this is also the origin of the regions name in many other languages, such as the Bulgarian Седмиградско, Polish Siedmiogród and the Ukrainian Семигород. The Hungarian form Erdély was first mentioned in the 12th-century Gesta Hungarorum as Erdeuleu or Erdő-elve, the word Erdő means forest in Hungarian, and the word Elve denotes a region in connection with this, similarly to the Hungarian name for Muntenia. Erdel, Erdil, Erdehstan, the Turkish equivalents, or the Romanian Ardeal were borrowed from this form as well, the first known written occurrence of the Romanian name Ardeal appeared in a document in 1432 as Ardeliu. Transylvania has been dominated by different peoples and countries throughout its history. It was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia, in 106 AD the Roman Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. After the Roman legions withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of tribes, bringing it under the control of the Carpi, Visigoths, Huns, Gepids, Avars. From 9th to 11th century Bulgarians ruled Transylvania, there is an ongoing scholarly debate over the ethnicity of Transylvanias population before the Hungarian conquest. The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century, according to Gesta Hungarorum, Transylvania was ruled by the Vlach voivode Gelou before the Hungarians arrived. The Kingdom of Hungary established a control over Transylvania in 1003. Between 1003 and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary, after the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of János Szapolyai

7.
Banat
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The region of Banat is populated by ethnic Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Romani, Germans, Krashovani, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Czechs, Croats, Jews and other ethnicities. During the Middle Ages, the term banate was designating a frontier province led by a governor who was called ban. Such provinces existed mainly in South Slavic, Hungarian and Romanian lands, in South Slavic and other regional languages, terms for banate were, Serbian - бановина / banovina, Hungarian - bánság, Romanian - banatul and Latin - banatus. At the time of the medieval Hungarian kingdom, the territory of modern-day Banat appeared in sources as Temesköz. The Hungarian name mainly referred to the areas between the Mureş, Tisza and Danube Rivers. Its Ottoman name was Eyalet of Temeşvar, during the Turkish occupation, the territory of Temesköz was also called Rascia. The word Banat without any qualification, typically refers to the historical Banat of Temeswar. The name was used from 1941 to 1944, during Axis occupation, for the short-lived political entity. Some of these languages would also have other terms, from their own frame of reference, to describe this historical and its historical capital was Timișoara, now in Timiș County in Romania. The Romanian Banat is mountainous in the south and southeast, while in the north, west and south-west it is flat, the climate, except in the marshy parts, is generally healthy. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, flax, hemp and tobacco are grown in quantities. Game is plentiful and the swarm with fish. The mineral wealth is great, including copper, tin, lead, zinc, iron, amongst its numerous mineral springs, the most important are those of Mehadia, with sulphurous waters, which were already known in the Roman period as the Termae Herculis. The present Banat Region of Romania includes some areas that are mountainous and were not part of the historical Banat or of the Pannonian plain, in Serbia, the Banat is mostly plains. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, hemp and sunflower are grown, a popular tourist destination in the Banat is Deliblatska Peščara. There are also ethnic minorities in the region, including Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Roma people. The first known inhabitants of present-day Banat were the various Thracian tribes, Agathyrsi, Getae, Dacians, in the 3rd century BC, Celtic tribes settled in this area. The region was part of the Dacian kingdom under Burebista in the first century BC, at the beginning of the 2nd century A. D. Trajan led two wars against the Dacians, the campaigns of 101-102, and 105-106

8.
Oltenia
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Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river, initially inhabisted by Dacians, Oltenia was incorporated in the Roman Empire. It was colonized with veterans of the Roman legions, the Romans withdrew their administration south of the Danube at the end of the 3rd century and Oltenia was ruled by the foederati Germanic Goths. In the late 4th century Oltenia came under the rule of the Taifals before invasion by the Huns, from 681, with some interruptions, it was part of the Bulgarian Empire. In 1233, the Kingdom of Hungary formed the Banate of Severin in the part of the region that would persist until the 1526 Battle of Mohács. Around 1247 a polity emerged in Oltenia under the rule of Litovoi, the rise of the mediaeval state of Wallachia followed in the 14th century, and the voivode was represented in Oltenia by a ban - the Great Ban of Craiova. This came to be considered the greatest office in Wallachian hierarchy, the title would continue to exist up until 1831. During the 15th century, Wallachia had to accept the Ottoman suzerainty, from the Craiovești family, many bans cooperated with the Turks. However, many rulers, including the Oltenian-born Michael the Brave, fought against the Ottomans, after 1716, the Ottomans decided to cease choosing the voivodes from among the Wallachian boyars, and to appoint foreign governors. As the governors were Orthodox Greeks living in Phanar, Constantinople, in 1761, the residence of Bans was moved to Bucharest, in a move towards centralism. It remained there until the death of the last Ban, Barbu Văcărescu, in 1821, Oltenia and Gorj County were at the center of Tudor Vladimirescus uprising. Vladimirescu initially gathered his Pandurs in Padeș and relied on a grid of fortified monasteries such as Tismana and Strehaia. The first medieval seat of Oltenia was Turnu Severin of Banate of Severin, vlad Georgescu, Istoria ideilor politice românești, Munich,1987 Neagu Djuvara, Între Orient și Occident. Țările române la începutul epocii moderne, Humanitas, Bucharest,1995 Constantin C, din cele mai vechi timpuri pînă în zilele noastre, Ed. Pentru Literatură, Bucharest,1966, p.93 Șerban Papacostea, Oltenia sub stăpânirea austriacă, Bucharest,1971, p.59

9.
Bender, Moldova
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Bender is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Transnistria Republic since 1992. It is located on the bank of the river Dniester in the historical region of Bessarabia. Together with its suburb Proteagailovca, the city forms a municipality, Bender is located in the buffer zone established at the end of the 1992 War of Transnistria. While the Joint Control Commission has overriding powers in the city, first mentioned in 1408 as Тягянякяча in a document in Old Slavonic, the town was known in the Middle Ages as Tighina in Moldavian sources and later as Bender in Ottoman sources. The fortress and the city were called Bender for the most part of the time they were a rayah of the Ottomans, and during most of the time they belonged to the Russian Empire. They were known as Tighina in the Principality of Moldavia, in the part of the Russian Empire period. The city is part of the region of Bessarabia. During the Soviet period the city was known in the Moldavian SSR as Бендер in Moldovan written then with the Cyrillic alphabet, independent Moldova officially knows the city as Bender, but otherwise both names are in use. The town was first mentioned as an important customs post in a grant issued by the Moldavian voivode Alexander the Good to the merchants of Lviv on October 8,1408. The name Tighina is found in documents from the half of the 15th century. The town was the main Moldavian customs point on the road linking the country to Tatar Crimea. During his reign of Moldavia, Stephen III had a wooden fort built in the town to defend the settlement from Tatar raids. In 1538, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the town from Moldavia and its fortifications were developed into a full fortress under the same name under the supervision of the Turkish architect Koji Mimar Sinan. The Ottomans used it to keep the pressure on Moldavia, about the same time the fortress was attacked by Zaporozhian Cossacks. In the 18th century, the area was expanded and modernized by the prince of Moldavia Antioh Cantemir. During the second half of the 18th century, the fortress three times to the Russians during the Russo-Turkish Wars. Along with Bessarabia, the city was annexed to the Russian Empire in 1812, many Ukrainians, Russians and Jews settled in or around Bender, and the town quickly became predominantly Russian-speaking. By 1897, speakers of Romanian and Moldovan made up only around 7% of Benders population, Tighina was part of the Moldavian Democratic Republic in 1917–1918, and after 1918, as part of Bessarabia, the city belonged to Romania, where it was the seat of Tighina County

Historical RATB pass from 2006. The paper pass has a combination of punches, crossouts, stamping, and writing to indicate the exact period for which it is valid. A new contactless card system has been introduced since